Missed the Train
by btch sprinkles
Summary: When the Doctor is on the train to the Sapphire Waterfalls, he comes across a boy who isn't really a boy after-all. A journey to the past reveals some secrets, danger, and adventure for The Doctor, Donna, and future!Merlin. Merthur fic. Rated for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

He knows there's something different about the boy. Not a boy at all, is he? No not a boy. Something ancient, maybe? Maybe even before his own time. Maybe something humanity had forgotten. And look at him just sitting there, away from his parents, listening, watching, but so, so different. Yes, not a boy at all. Not even human, though no one would know it. Even by the look in his parents' eyes he can tell they believe they'd given birth to him.

But oh this creature was special. This creature was different, and how he loved things that were different. Unique. Perhaps the last of his own kind, because the Doctor can always tell when they're the last. It's in their eyes, the pain and suffering. The weight of it resting on their shoulders. The knowing, and that's the worst of it. The knowing.

But then all of that is forgotten because whatever is outside that train, whatever is moving on this planet which should hold no life is coming for them. And he sees the boy, and oh the boy looks scared. But not as scared as he should look. No, not at all. He looks like perhaps… perhaps he's playing at it.

But even that gets forgotten because whatever this thing is, it's taken his voice. It's taken his movements and he can hear them screaming, just barely above the din in his head. The buzzing as he's drained of life, of knowledge, of his own history. And they're shouting and dragging him and as he's there he sees the boy. The boy's crying, he's crying and he's struggling, and his hand is reaching out.

To throw him out?

Oh no. No, no, no not at all because his eyes are shifting. They're changing and beyond the tears they're turning gold…

The ride back was silent, and the boy sat there with tears still in his eyes. And he looked at him, the Doctor, staring at the boy and he could feel it. Nothing like he'd ever seen. And how he loved new things. The parents they were… human. So very, very human. And this boy was special.

But Donna was there, then, and as frightened as he'd been, and as hurt as he'd been, it didn't matter because the boy was still there. Somewhere.

"You look like you could use this." His voice didn't carry far in the little bar they had set up, but that was okay because the hadn't gotten the scotch from that place anyway.

His chin trembled a bit as the Doctor pushed the glass into his hand, and he didn't turn it away. "Why are you talking to me?" Ah now he could hear it, the centuries, the millennia in his voice. Not ordinary, not at all.

"Why shouldn't I be talking to you… Jethro, was it?"

He swallowed and nodded, and then sipped on the scotch. Ah and there it was, a recognition because what he was tasting hadn't been tasted in so many thousands of years, it was possible this boy had forgotten the taste of it.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

His smile was only a little tense, pulling back at the corners of his mouth almost against his will. "What is your name?"

The boy's eyes narrowed just a bit. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

The Doctor laughed. "Yes, yes there it is. You're not new, are you? Not new at all. Old, in fact. Older than I am, and that's a spectacular feat. I suspect you've come here from a time long forgotten."

He took another drink then, and the Doctor could see it in his eyes. The shaggy black hair, the immortal face, and the flicker of gold in the eyes. Old magic, is what they called it. The Old Religion. The Doctor wouldn't even really know about it, if he hadn't been so clever, and if the legends hadn't been so fantastic and wonderfully brutal.

"Merlin," he finally said, and looked almost surprised to hear the word aloud.

"How long has it been since someone's called you that."

The boy, Merlin, then smiled. An actual smile, even if it only lasted a second. "Too long, Doctor."

"You knew the truth. On the train. What were you trying to do?"

Merlin shrugged and sipped the scotch again. "I was trying to help you. But… it's been a long time since I've been able to help anyone."

"Magic," the Doctor said very slowly. "Old Magic."

Merlin nodded.

"Why do you look like a boy, Merlin? Why a child?"

Merlin chuckled and gave a little shrug, and for just a split second, the Doctor glimpsed what the boy had once been. "I can look however I want, Doctor. Just like you."

"Oh not like me," the Doctor said, and grinned. "Not like me at all, are you Merlin? Not me, but definitely not like anything else. A true immortal."

Merlin nodded. "Wasn't supposed to be that way. He was supposed to come back you know. The king. He was supposed to come back and reclaim Camelot, and I would have been free to go then."

"So what happened?"

Merlin smiled sadly and gave a half-shrug. "I suppose he missed the train home."


	2. Chapter 2

"No!" The disbelieving tone carried across the echoing hall and to the fantastically large ears of the young boy standing in the hall. Though, he wasn't really a young boy at all, was he? He hadn't been that in a long, long time. "You're joking."

"I'm not," came the cheerful voice of the Doctor, who seemed to be enjoying the look on his companion's face more than anything else. "Go on, ask him yourself." The Doctor turned and smiled at the black-haired boy, beckoning him with a flick of his head.

The woman standing next to the Doctor, hands on her hips, a ginger with small eyes gone very wide, took two steps toward him. "Merlin?" she said, the inflection on the 'Mer' part, which triggered a small, painful memory of one who used to say his name just like that. "The Merlin? Like…" she waved her hands about in a rather odd manner. "With the magic, and dragons. King Arthur?"

Another painful twinge, but he's used to it. He smiled a little and shrugged. "I suppose so, yeah. Though right now I'm called Jethro."

She pulled a face and cocked her head to the side. "Jethro? What kind of name is Jethro?"

"I didn't choose it," he defended, feeling a little put off by this woman and her loud tone and tapping foot.

A bell sounded in the distance, and a quiet voice over the intercoms sounded, letting everyone know that the resort would be closing shortly. Forever. They'd lost two men that day, two men and one hostess and a passenger. That news would travel far and wide, even for space. So yeah, they were most definitely closing.

"Sounds like our cue," the Doctor said, clapping his hands and turning to Merlin. "Still with us, then?"

Merlin glanced back down the hall where he knew his frantic parents were probably waiting for him. But they weren't his parent, and in truth, he'd only just come into their lives a few months prior. They didn't know that, though, nor did any of their friends or family. But he was tired, and lonely, and he just wanted to have a little time where someone took care of him.

He hadn't meant to choose people like them, anyway, had he? Not the rude, mouthy, ready to murder a man at the drop of a hat, types. He'd just been searching for someone, a couple, who hadn't had kids. Who hadn't, but had wanted to, and missed their chance.

He looked back at the Doctor and then held up a finger. He felt the power building in him, bubbling hot and ready, and it was under-used for so long, but it was part of him. He was the magic. His hand stretched out and he could feel the burning in his eyes as they glowed. His mouth twisted around words he hadn't used thousands of years. It jolted him, as it shot out of his hand, a deliberate spell, unlike the subconscious magic he'd used on them to start this whole thing. He could see it, and thought maybe the Doctor could, too. It shot out, and he went with it, traveling down the hall, piercing the very fabric of reality as it undid what he'd done a few months ago.

Childless now, sad, and lonely. Maybe they'd remember him in their dreams. But it didn't matter anymore. Not really. They weren't great people, after all.

Merlin had seen more than he could possibly imagine, more than his head wanted to remember, but nothing was like this blue box. Bigger on the inside, and so rich and full of life. He could feel it, pulsing in the walls, in the floors. It was conscious, it was alive. He smiled at the Doctor as the doors shut.

"Where are we going?" he finally asked, and the redhead smiled at him, wide and excited.

"Well we can go anywhere, can't we?" the Doctor said and clapped his hand once. "We've got all of time and space."

Frankly he thought it would be more instant, this traveling through time thing, but he found himself sitting on a seat while the Doctor banged around a massive console, hitting things with hammers, talking away to himself, pushing on buttons and things. It was only when the ginger woman came up and handed him a cup of tea that he relaxed a little.

"I'm Donna," she said, raising her eyebrows at him like he should know who she was. "Donna Noble."

"Merlin," he muttered, and sipped the blessedly hot, sweet brew.

She laughed and shook her head. "Not too clever, are you? You've made it this far in history and you introduce yourself to me?"

Merlin shrugged. "Seemed the polite thing to do," which it had, but he realized he did feel like an idiot, and not very many people could make him feel like that anymore. He thought maybe he might like this Donna woman. Or hate her. Either way.

"So Merlin," she said again, in that same way as before, "how'd you get all the way to Midnight?"

"Came with my parents."

"Parents?" she said and threw her head back and laughed. "Merlin the Great Wizard's got parents in space. I can't even begin to imagine that. Merlin, after you're done fighting that dragon, fancy a holiday off on a diamond planet? Mind you tidy up your room first." She chortled loudly at her own joke.

"Bit more complicated than that," he replied quietly.

"Donna," the Doctor scolded from afar.

"What?" she replied, crossing her arms. "I'm only making conversation. Honestly, you'd think I was trying to take the piss out of everyone with the way he talks to me sometimes." She sat back and gave a little sigh. "So, Merlin the Great, what about all those legends, then?"

Merlin frowned, a little confused by the question. "What… about them?" he asked slowly.

"Are they all true, then?" She grinned and shook her head a little from side to side as she drawled, "Lancelot and Guinevere, yeah? Behind the King's back? His one true love and his best friend, betraying him like that. Not a very good judge in character, was he? That King Arthur. They're never really like the stories though, are they? Usually just a bunch of bumbling idiots with history out to make them grand heroes. Probably died an old fat man, didn't he?"

Despite the centuries upon centuries that had passed, the memory was still so fresh it hurt, and he flinched. In moments, the Doctor was there, glowering down at his companion, his head shaking.

"Donna," he said again. "Go and find something to do."

She turned pink the face and huffed as she rose. "Oh something to do, shall I? Get in the kitchen and make dinner for the men? Have you got an apron, then, Doctor? Shall I take my shoes off while I'm at it?" And she stalked off without saying another word, which almost seemed like a miracle to Merlin when he thought about it.

The Doctor smiled down at Merlin and said, "Sorry about her. She means well."

"How could she know," Merlin replied. "I was long, long before her."

"Ah she's not too far off from your time, comparatively speaking. Well, your original time. Well… second original time, anyway." He grinned. "Twenty-first century, that woman."

Merlin shook his head and stood up, leaving the cup of tea on the seat. "It's fine, really. Thank you."

She emerged again, sometime later, as Merlin was again watching the Doctor navigate the space ship. She was subdued, which he found himself feeling oddly guilty for. He hadn't meant to shut her up. "Does it always take this long to get to… wherever?"

Donna smiled. "More often than not. If you ask me, he only knows what he's doing half the time with this bloody thing," and she gave the side of the wall an affectionate pat. "I think the TARDIS takes us on its own, you know. Let's him think he's clever, just to shut him up."

Merlin chuckled a little. "He's not what he seems, either, is he?"

"That one?" Donna nodded her head toward the Doctor. "Oh no. Not at all. But neither are you." She suddenly fixed him with a stare, knowing and deep, and he realized she was special, too.

Landing was probably the most terrible part of the experience. The TARDIS, as both Doctor and Donna referred to the blue box, landed with a sort of thump, and it sent Merlin flying forward. Barely catching himself on the railing, he glanced over and saw both Donna and the Doctor had been prepared for it.

"Ah, should have warned you about that, so sorry," the Doctor said, helping Merlin to right himself.

The wizard shook the Doctor off and straightened his black t-shirt. It was in that moment he realized how silly he still looked, the tight jeans and t-shirt and painted fingernails. Like a teenager, like he'd wanted to be. Just a sullen kid, obnoxious parents, loved a little, life full and ahead of him.

His immortality had never weighed harder on him, and he felt his throat tighten just a fraction. "So, where are we?" he asked as the Doctor walked back to the console.

"Ah that…" the Doctor said slowly, "seems to be the question of the hour. I was hoping to pop back to Donna's time, but it seems we've taken a bit of a detour."

"What sort of detour?" Donna asked, hands back on her hips. "I had something to do, Doctor. You know I said I'd check in with gramps. Every time, I swear to god. Every time you do this."

"Oh it's not my fault, Donna," he crows. "Time and space are both very sensitive…"

"Oh blah blah blah, space-boy. Can't we just get to where we want to go once. Just once?"

"So… where did we end up, then?" Merlin asked.

"Let's go and find out, shall we?"

Merlin was a little perplexed by how excited the Doctor seemed to be on some planet, in some time, with no idea which. Donna's first out, as it seems fitting that she should be. It's sunny, bit windy, and a little warm. Definitely summer, and the forest around them was lush and green.

"Definitely Earth," the Doctor said, and Merlin grimaced when he put a bit of dirt into his mouth and then spat it out. "I'd say around oh…" the Doctor licked his finger and then held it up to the soft breeze. His face split into a huge grin and he turned to Merlin. "Oh I think you're going to like this place, Merlin. I think you're going to like this place a lot."

"Why?" Merlin asks slowly. "Where are we?"

The Doctor can't seem to help his grin getting wider and wider as he grips Merlin's shoulders and starts to turn him. It's only then that Merlin recognizes the place, but instead of happiness or excitement, it's fear. It's fear because they've just popped into Camelot. Camelot, a place terrified of magic, and they'd done so out of thin air, in a giant blue box.


End file.
